


Eiji Accidentally Joins A Gang

by mangra



Category: Banana Fish (Anime & Manga)
Genre: Alternate Universe - College/University, First Meetings, Fluff and Crack, M/M, One Shot, References to Depression, Slow Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-06-01
Updated: 2019-06-01
Packaged: 2020-04-05 18:15:00
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,249
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19045771
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mangra/pseuds/mangra
Summary: Eiji just recently moved to New York for college and made a friend. He might also have a small crush. Ibe thinks Eiji got recruited by a notorious street gang and almost gets a heart attack.





	Eiji Accidentally Joins A Gang

**Author's Note:**

> First fic! Comments and kudos are appreciated 💖 follow me on twitter at mangra_MK for bf art and shitposts

“Sorry I’m late Ibe-san!”

Eiji rushed in the studio, nearly tripping in his steps as he bowed profusely.

“Oh Ei-chan, you’re finally here! Don’t worry about it, I was just setting up the equipment.” Ibe said in a rush as he juggled the tripod and reflectors in his arms.

“Ah, let me help you.” Eiji set his bag down and grabbed the tripod. “I’m sorry I didn’t come sooner. I was helping my friend and forgot about the time.”

“Ohoho! You got a friend now eh?” Ibe smiled. “That’s good. I was worried about you, you know. Thought you’d have a hard time settling in and finding friends, especially in a new country. This friend your classmate?”

“Hmm… well he’s not really a student. But he hangs out around the campus a lot. Mostly in the library. He does look like a model though.” Eiji said it in a way that was somehow tender, surprising Ibe. He looked behind him to see Eiji with a faraway look in his eyes, and a soft blush on his cheeks. He was also crushing the seamless paper in his hands.

“Ei-chan, do you have a crush on this guy? And you’re crushing the paper.”

Eiji squeaked and jumped in surprise, the blush covering his entire face down to his neck.

“E-EH? Wait, I don’t have a c-c-crush!” Eiji’s voice sounded embarrassingly like a boy whose voice just started puberty.

“It’s not what you think! Just because he has nice eyes—I MEAN—”

The paper crushed in his hands.

“OH GOD—“

Ibe cut him some slack. “I was just kidding you know.”

_That paper was our last white backdrop._

“Oh…OH. Hahaha… yup. Very funny.” Eiji let out a sigh of relief and went to fetch another roll of paper. “I’ll pay for that.”

“Don’t worry about it.” Ibe waved him off. “Now who’s that friend of yours?”

Eiji immediately brightened up.

_You sure you don’t have a crush on that guy?_

“His name is Aslan! We met in the library while I was editing the  _The ‘Nam Vets Remembers_ photoshoot you had with Lobo-san last month.”

Eiji prattled on about this Aslan guy while they were setting up. Ibe hummed as he listened. He was relieved that Eiji finally found a friend in uni. He did feel a bit guilty when he brought Eiji to the US, especially during the first three months. But he knew it was for the best. The poor kid was depressed and shut-in after his injury, and he knew that the quiet societal pressures of Japan was weighing him down. Not that his mother really cared of course.

“And look at this necklace he gave me.”

“Huh?” Ibe looked up from where he was crouched on the ground. Eiji pulled out a necklace hidden under his clothes, and Ibe’s eyes nearly bulged out of their sockets.

Hanging from a chain was the unmistakable charm of one of New York’s most notorious gangs. He’d seen it in the papers, on TV, and SNS. Hell even on graffiti walls. But he never expected to see it dangling from an innocent boy’s neck.

“E-eiji, w-w-what are you wearing?! Your parents will kill me! Don’t worry, I’ll call the cops right now, my friend Charlie will know what to do.” Ibe panicked as he grabbed his phone.

“Eh?! The police?! Why would you call them? What’s going on?”

“Because—“ Eiji cut him off.

“Aslan said it was a lucky charm. Like the cereal I think? He said it would protect me from harm since we sometimes go to dangerous locations.” Eiji smiled. “I guess they don’t have Omamoris here in the States huh. Ibe-san, are you okay?”

Ibe was frozen in shock like he had seen a ghost.

He wanted to shake the boy and ship him off to Japan.  _Oh God what have I done._

“Who exactly is this Aslan guy?”

“I took a picture of him the other day, look!”

Eiji got his camera out and began scrolling through his camera roll. There were pictures of buildings, squirrels, a crowd in the subway, and the most angelic person Ibe has ever seen. He photographed models before, sure. But this was the face of an ethereal beauty.

Soft golden blonde locks reflected by the afternoon light. Warm,  _warm_  jade eyes that crinkled at the edges in laughter. A smile so wide, so pure and open, he felt like he was intruding on an intimate conversation.

_This could be displayed on an exhibit,_ Ibe thought.

_If only it wasn’t the devil himself._

Ibe had seen him before at the police station when Charlie was giving him a stern lecture on New York’s street gangs. He couldn’t forget the face of a killer so out of place with the rest of those hoodlums.

“Eiji, you do know that’s Ash Lynx right?” Ibe turned to him slowly with a pleading look in his eyes.

“Huh? Ash Lynx? No, that’s Aslan Callenreese.”

Ibe bit back a tired sigh.  _It had to be you, huh._

He knew what the photo implied. Ash Lynx doesn’t just smile for anyone.

Ibe grabbed his shoulders. “Eiji, listen to me. I’m sorry I couldn’t protect you, but you can’t hang out with him anymore.”

Eiji’s eyes widened, feeling a bit hurt. Aslan was the first friend he had since transferring to the US. Maybe he did sortahaveatinycrushonhim. But that was beside the point. He couldn’t let Ibe tell off Aslan like that.

“Why can’t I? You were happy for me earlier when I told you about my friend, and now you don’t want me to hang out with him?” His heart felt a bit heavy and he wanted to cry a little.

“Eiji  _please listen to me,_  he’s a gang leader. He’s Ash Lynx, the most notorious gang leader of this place and you’re wearing his gang’s symbol. You can’t join a gang, you’ve got homework!”

“Look, he’s not part of a gang and he’s…oh.” It all seemed to click together somehow. Those odd moments in their brief friendship. Did it matter that he’s a gang leader? Not really, Eiji thought. He was nice to him, and didn’t make fun of his accent. Well, most of the time.

“I’m still keeping this necklace. I’ll ask him tomorrow if he really is in a gang, but he’s really nice to me and I would like to keep our friendship.” Eiji stubbornly looked at Ibe in the eyes with a slight pout.

The poor photographer wanted to rip his hair out.

\-------

“AGHBLEGH!”

“Geez, Ash. You may look like that Christmas card angel but you sound like a fucking hyena when you sneeze.”

“Shut up.” Ash swatted Shorter, who overdramatized the pain.

Ash rubbed his nose. Is it pollen season? His nose had been itching for the past hour.

“Soooo, who was that cute guy you were with earlier?” Shorter got his face close to Ash, and wiggled his eyebrows obscenely.

“Get off me! And he’s not cute!” Ash’s blush betrayed him. Shorter poked his red cheek repeatedly.

_Damn he looks like a crab when he blushes._

“You sure ‘bout that? Guess you don’t mind if I date that lil cut—OW YOU FUCKING SON OF A BITCH.” Shorter cradled his poor finger. “You bit me! Now I’m gonna get some disease or some shit you fucker. Are you even vaccinated?”

Ash rolled his eyes at his antics. No one was gonna date the cute Japanese boy. Not on his watch.


End file.
